The EU election results are in, and so is euro-skepticism

posted at 2:01 pm on May 26, 2014 by Erika Johnsen

Last week, voters across the 28 member states of the European Union turned out to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament, and while the usual mainstream political parties still hold a solid majority, the strong and sudden rise of anti-euro, anti-EU parties on both the far right and the far left have rocked the long-reigning system in what France’s Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls called “more than a warning. It is a shock, an earthquake.” Via the NYT:

Preliminary results indicated that parties strongly opposed to the European Union performed well in several countries, including France, Greece, Britain and Denmark, presenting a stark challenge to champions of greater European integration. …

In France, according to official figures announced early Monday, the National Front, the country’s largest far-right party, won 26 percent of the vote to defeat both the governing Socialists and the Union for a Popular Movement, a center-right party. Greece’s radical left-wing Syriza coalition looked set to beat the party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, while Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi outfit that Greek authorities tried in vain to outlaw, also picked up seats. …

But Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, or UKIP, cheered the outcome and said it would help those in Britain and elsewhere who want to slash the European Union’s powers and return decision-making to individual states.

“The real effect of these elections, with big ‘Euroskeptic’ gains in many countries, will be less what happens in Brussels and more what happens within the member states,” he told reporters in Brussels via a video link. “I think the day when we have more referendums on E.U. membership and membership of the euro will have come much, much closer with these results tonight.”

After years of depressed and recessed economic growth, high unemployment among adults and especially youths, and stagnant living standards, a lot of Europeans are fed up with the lack of progress or even movement coming out of Europe’s dominant political parties and are entering severe backlash mode. The bloc’s leaders might be tempted to hope they can mollify the upswing in EU voters’ dissatisfaction with more hemming and hawing about miniscule improvements in the economy and promises that things are slowly getting better — but as John Fund points out at NRO:

[T]he reality is that most committed supporters of an ever more powerful European Union will be tempted to ignore Sunday’s results, hoping that public dissatisfaction with bailouts and bureaucrats will abate. But the public might not play along. The best economic estimates are that Europe is facing another “lost decade” of economic growth — stagnant economies will do nothing to reduce sky-high unemployment among young people, and the need for more Eurocrisis bailouts will keep taxes high. …

Daniel Hannan, a National Review contributor and Conservative member of the European Parliament, told me last month that “the elites who promised us that greater centralization of power in Brussels would lead to peace have instead delivered what I warned against: animosity between nations and the rise of extremists.”

Blowback

Trackbacks/Pings

Comments

The leftists who “love democracy” hate the people’s choices in Europe. One can’t make this up.

Now is the time for France, Germany and others to listen to Mr Sarkozy, and recognise that he is right. It isn’t good enough just to circle the wagons and tell the people of Europe to get stuffed, because next time the frustration of the electorate may be uncontainable. The message of the people to the Euro-nomenklatura is simple: changer ou mourir!

I love all the article titles. The left is never “fringe” anything, the erudite class of thugs:

To a greater or lesser extent, the story of this Euro-election has been the rise of the minor parties – some of them bizarre, some of them downright potty, but all of them united by a visceral dislike of the EU bureaucracy: its arrogance, its remoteness, its expense, its endless condescension and its manic and messianic belief in its right to legislate for all 500 million people in the EU.

Redguy, a HotAir contributor and Conservative member of the Tea Party, said that “the elites who promised us that greater centralization of power in DC would lead to peace have instead delivered what I warned against: animosity between the states and the rise of leftist extremists.”

The UK Independence Party are on course to win the European Elections in the UK in what looks set to be a historic victory for the insurgent anti-EU party.

Speaking after the result for South East England was announced, party leader Nigel Farage described UKIP’s performance as “the most extraordinary event in British politics for 100 years.”

With the majority of UK regions having declared their results, at the time of writing UKIP have 22 seats (up 10), the Conservatives 16 (down five), Labour 14 (up five), the Greens two (up one), and the Liberal Democrats one (down eight).

For the Conservatives, the night has also been disappointing, with the party losing many of its MEPs, including the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament. If they do finish third, it will be the first time in the party’s history that it has not come at least second in a national election. The modern party was formed 200 years ago, but traces its lineage back to the original Tories right at the beginning of party politics in England. Never in all that time have they finished third.

After years of depressed and recessed economic growth, high unemployment among adults and especially youths, and stagnant living standards, a lot of Europeans are fed up with the lack of progress or even movement coming out of Europe’s dominant political parties and are entering severe backlash mode.

And not a word about immigration.

Anyway, I thought the EU was our ideal in our fight against the evil Russkies?

I hope we’ll be on our side. And I wouldn’t assume the “tea party” is dead. Leftys like to group people. Conservatives don’t do that. Those with a conservative view haven’t changed. If allowed to vote they will prove that.

After years of depressed and recessed economic growth, high unemployment among adults and especially youths, and stagnant living standards, a lot of Europeans are fed up with the lack of progress or even movement coming out of Europe’s dominant political parties and are entering severe backlash mode.

And not a word about immigration.

Anyway, I thought the EU was our ideal in our fight against the evil Russkies?

vlad martel on May 26, 2014 at 2:28 PM

Almost uncontrolled immigration combined with massive welfare states will destroy is destroying western Europe and then about 10 years after that will be the USA. Unless someone has the balls to shut them both down until the excess debt is taken care of. Europe is in worse shape than us because individual countries cannot print their own money to cover up the problem like the US is doing(along with Japan)The EU is trying to do the same thing through “stimulus” but it doesn’t go as smoothly because certain individual EU countries are in really bad shape and haven’t done anything to fix the problem except take bailout cash from the European central bank. Austerity was forced on the Greeks but they elected a lot of leftist who vow to stop the austerity measures that delayed total meltdown. It won’t end well.

When I heard Euroskeptic I thought maybe this article would touch on rising climate skepticism in Europe, the home of the most radical leftist climate nuts even among “conservatives.” But that issue wasn’t covered, so I might as well give my two cents because Steven Goddard’s lengthy article discusses evidence that the 1930s were actually hotter than today, and that pretty much obliterates the entire alarmist case. My comment:

Even a 3rd world country like India threw out the bums who had been appeasing muslims and dividing their country .
1.25 billion people,
almost 600 million voters,
and no one complained about voter ID laws at the birthplace of casteism and a cradle of poverty .

Ukip have triumphed in the UK European Elections. The BBC project that Ukip’s national share of the vote will be 28 per cent ahead of Labour on 25 per cent and the Tories on 24 per cent with the Greens on 8 per cent beating the Lib Dems who are on the 7 per cent into 4th.

This is the first time that anyone other than Labour or the Conservatives has won a nationwide election in more than a century. Nigel Farage and his party has given the British political system a mighty shake this morning. They have demonstrated that, in these elections at least, they can put together a coalition that can defeat both main parties.

The big development in this campaign has been Ukip making inroads into the Labour electoral base. The Ukip vote is no longer just made up of disaffected Tories worried about the loss of sovereignty.

Ukip has done this by putting immigration at the centre of its message. Ukip has a unique selling point on immigration because it wants to leave the EU. This means that, unlike the other parties, it can claim it would stop EU immigration into Britain. No other party can make that pledge because it is incompatible with the UK remaining in the EU.

There is quite a bit about immigration ……. Stop the benefits !
The elites here and over there just don’t want it spoken out loud .
How stupid are we ( US citizens ) to fall for this failed experiment
abroad ?

Well if the Rand Paul idiots or Dems have their way, it will be deemed somebody else’s problem. The US will wait out the fighting and make friends with whatever faction wins. My money at this point would be on the Russia/China alliance.

After years of depressed and recessed economic growth, high unemployment among adults and especially youths, and stagnant living standards, a lot of Europeans are fed up with the lack of progress or even movement coming out of Europe’s dominant political parties and are entering severe backlash mode.

A few million Muslims moving in and taking over the urban areas may, just may, have a little something to do with it. But, that’s racist, intolerant and xenophobic and therefore cannot be true.

At any rate, their economies will sink anyway, just as ours will/is. So, sink alone or together-it matters not.

Even with the U.S. indirectly subsidizing their defense postures so they can spend a tiny fraction on their own militaries they’re still failing.

But how many riots, how much thievery, how much incompetence (on both the Socialist and the Capitalist sides of the aisle), how many wars, how many attempts to save dying overseas empires and interests in foreign lands, billions in welfare and subsidized X, Y and Z, and so on can a society take and still be expected to thrive?

So on both sides of the Atlantic the PTB that saw the handwriting on the wall long ago are stealing all they can from their various nations and companies and banks, and converting it all into real assets-mines, water and mineral rights, property/farmland, precious and strategic metals, isolated compounds, and so on.

The ultimate survivalists. They have no intention of “toughing it out” and subsisting on squirrel meat and dried beans.

I had a friend in England who is dead now. He noticed there were flags all over the towns in so many of my pictures. He said nobody hangs the English flag. He decided to do it himself. Apparently nobody complained. I guess patriotism is frowned upon in Europe. I think we just do it without thinking about it.

I had a friend in England who is dead now. He noticed there were flags all over the towns in so many of my pictures. He said nobody hangs the English flag. He decided to do it himself. Apparently nobody complained. I guess patriotism is frowned upon in Europe. I think we just do it without thinking about it.

crankyoldlady on May 26, 2014 at 4:26 PM

They do seem to be prominent at their football games and at various international sporting events…

There’s a difference between UKIP winning seats for brussels and seats for westminster.

Until they get a foothold of power domestically, i am skeptical of what they can do.

uatu1878 on May 26, 2014 at 7:43 PM

That’s exactly right, you seem to get it. Are you European by any chance? The European Parliament is a joke, the participation of individual countries populations in the Euro parliamentary elections is ridiculous, 25% of their population voted in the Euro elections in Germany this past weekend, 35 % in France (my country of birth). The real legislative initiative still takes place at the level of individual states. If I am not mistaken the EU Parliament can’t even initiate legislation. It’s the European Commission who does, and who is is the real badazz and has the real power in the EU. Nobody takes the Euro Parliament elections seriously in Europe, if anything they love to elect all sorts of bizarros characetrs for the local flavor they bring :) If you want an example of what kind of people get elected in the EU Parliament, read this.

No second amendment. Makes it tough to change entrenched bureaucracy if they won’t let you vote. Oh well,…

butch on May 26, 2014 at 2:13 PM

You’re delusional if you think the 2nd amendment has anything to do with guaranteeing your vote in the modern era. The days of citizen militias armed with rifles being effective battlefield fighting forces are long over.

I have often wondered that exact thing. Where do you think the military will decide to go? Armed citizenry will eliminate the ability of the bureaucracy to increasingly try and enforce their rules. I still think the states have to decide to get engaged – they control more troops than the feds – and most of the troops sympathize with the conservative side. The States can take very strong action against the federal bureaucracy, including the IRS. That is where the armed citizenry can help, because if one of the more aggressive fed bureaucracies comes after an individual, enough friends can change that equation, assuming they are not having to fight the national guard and state police too.

Excellent question. But when the law making process makes everyone a criminal, at what point does everyone decide to say the hell with all of it?

You’re delusional if you think the 2nd amendment has anything to do with guaranteeing your vote in the modern era. The days of citizen militias armed with rifles being effective battlefield fighting forces are long over.

You’re delusional if you think the 2nd amendment has anything to do with guaranteeing your vote in the modern era. The days of citizen militias armed with rifles being effective battlefield fighting forces are long over.

Tlaloc on May 26, 2014 at 8:37 PM

The delusions are yours.
An example: Muhammed and Malvo….two guys, one gun and a car…they kept the DC area in panic for three weeks.
Their targets were random.
Now expand that by a factor of 3 million.
Three million snipers and counter-snipers roaming the countryside; eliminating government aparatchiks. How many do you think it would take before they all stayed home and shut the system down?
Much more effective than you could imagine.
III/0317

The Euro Right parties aren’t the same as the American Right. I’d be as wary of that bunch as I would be the Euro Left.

RAB on May 27, 2014 at 12:22 AM

Exactly, people here think they are some sort of libertarians, tea-party types, but they aren’t. They are mostly ignorant individuals, consoiracy-theory types, and a lot of them are pretty vicious anti-semite.

Greece’s radical left-wing Syriza coalition looked set to beat the party of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, while Golden Dawn, a neo-Nazi outfit that Greek authorities tried in vain to outlaw, also picked up seats. …

There was a point where the rest of Europe should have stopped loaning money to Greece and clearly they have passed it. But lets keep going anyway and see what happens!

As incredible as it sounds, you are wrong yet again. I live in a rural area where home invasion is practically unheard of. Breaking into your car is another matter, but your home – no.

Why is that you ask, my clueless friend? Because the ratio of guns to people must be about 4:1. Even the old geezers pack heat. In your Utopia the 86 year old man is at the mercy of the 20 year old punk but not here. Smith and Wesson made all men equal.

Confiscating guns would only serve to increase the likelihood of folks getting hurt.

No, these anti-Euro parties will not go away. But the ruling class is now waging a vicious campaign to stain their reputations.

I’ve counted numerous instances where media outlets, including the WSJ have seem to prefer focusing on negatives and pathos appeals rather than the issues. Sound familiar? It should because such empty, emotionally charges fallacy has become the calling card of liberals across the globe.

Apparently, wanting to remain a sovereign nation, have control over your affairs, economy, jobs and retain your unique culture is now racist, xenophobic and numerous other pejoratives that liberal, and those holding power can think of.

People are the owners of government and across the globe they are coming back to claim what is rightfully theirs. Now amount of name calling, deflection, ad hominem’s and mendacity can hide the fact we collectively have a ruling class who is destroying our societies for their fictitious, utopian, statist and autocratic fantasies. It’s about time the people put a stop to such grotesque overreach because those in power will apparently never understand until we shun them t a place outside the walls.

The bottom line from this election is that many in Europe perceive that they are marginalized and their heritage trivialized by an elite who think that they know more than anyone else that what they want is for the common good.

Apparently, wanting to remain a sovereign nation, have control over your affairs, economy, jobs and retain your unique culture is now racist, xenophobic and numerous other pejoratives that liberal, and those holding power can think of.

People are the owners of government and across the globe they are coming back to claim what is rightfully theirs. Now amount of name calling, deflection, ad hominem’s and mendacity can hide the fact we collectively have a ruling class who is destroying our societies for their fictitious, utopian, statist and autocratic fantasies. It’s about time the people put a stop to such grotesque overreach because those in power will apparently never understand until we shun them t a place outside the walls.

Marcus Traianus on May 27, 2014 at 7:49 AM

You’re wrong about this, a lot of these so called nationalistic parties in Europe attracted a combination of the worst right-wing nutjobs (right wing in Europe is nothing like right wing or libertarians here, think more Nazi kind of rhetoric and ideology, also very anti-semitic, especially in France) and mostly irrational, truly xenophobic and anti-semitic types. So, no, it’s not name calling, it’s true description for most part. Problem in France is that between the crazies on the right and the crazies on the left, that are equally as bad, there’s very little space, that space is occupied by Sarcozy’s party and a couple of others, but the left populist rhetoric managed to push them back, and now the National Front does the same with the left. As for UKIP in England, I lived there for a long time and nothing in the UKIP’s rhetoric (even during times when they were not taken seriously as a political party) made me confoate them with neo-nazis types, sure they are anti-EU but that doesn’t make them neo-nazis or even extremists. One of the problem with these nationalist parties’ platform in Eueope is that they advocate and rant against immigrants who are legal in the EU, most of them citizens, there for at least a generation or so. This type of rhetoric is dangerous and make people feel unsafe in their own countries, it is not that different from the nazis’ anti-Jew rhetoric. As a side note, for those who are not familiar with the issue, Europeans countries don’t have the illegal immigration problem that we have here. The EU treaties allow for the free circulation of people within the EU zone (pretty much like people moving from one state to another in search for better jobs in the US) , and are pretty tough on immigration from outside the EU which is minimal these days.